The Joseph Eichler homes. While the look and esthetics are starting to fade from popularity, the concepts he injected into residential building have really informed what we considered "the modern lifestyle." While our houses look different, the concepts were still the same. This is what good design does.
The art of packaging. Form follows function. Although they make some mistakes when it comes to learned behavior and the power of brands and branding.
And speaking of branding, "The world's biggest beverage maker, which struggles with declining soda consumption in the U.S., is working with fitness and nutrition experts who suggest its cola as a healthy treat. In February, for instance, several wrote online pieces for American Heart Month, with each including a mini-can of Coke or small soda as a snack idea." Just in case you thought in the healthcare world that it was only doctors who took gratuities to push certain brands (of drugs). (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Oo, what a cute little robot. OMG, are they fighting? The Antweight class of robot warriors. (Grokked from Dan)
While there are some errors in the article, here is a good primer on the dangers of CT and X-ray procedures. They're a little sensationalist by presenting the statistics in a ZOMG kind of way, and they get some of the details wrong (such as hardly any CT scanners use a "pencil" beam anymore). They also don't explain just what is changing with the new Medicare standards (one thing is every scan must also record your actual radiation dose) or that with the advances over the past two decades your medical exposure to x-rays is much reduced than before. They also don't make the distinction of why kids are more susceptible to radiation cell damage or that not all x-ray scans are the same.
In case you ever wondered, this is how we know what the brain does and how it works. We find people with "defective" or injured brains and study them. In this case, a man born without a cerebellum (that's the structure at the back of the cerebrum, under the occipital lobe). The cerebellum, or vermiform process (you have two, this is the second one, the other isn't brain related), is an older structure of the brain, and handles much of the fine tuning of our actions. But it now appears to do much more than motor skills (although I'll note, speech is a fine motor skill as well as language control, which seems to be missing in the discussion in this article).
And speaking of brains, ever had an MRI of your brain? Ever wanted a 3D model of your individual brain? Well, there's a company that will 3D print one for you. Livin' in the future. (Grokked from Maureen Johnson)
The Milky Way may have ripples and ridges. The better for dipping, or something. (Grokked from Mrs. Tadd)
I usually do agree with the sentiment that the children of candidates are to be left alone for campaign issues (with a rare exception for egregious behavior that points to character flaws of the candidate). However, when you intentionally involve them in your campaign they become legitimate targets.
"'When we started doing this, the longest a genetically-modified pig could survive in a bath of human blood was two hours and now that we are up to over eight days, it’s mind-blowing,' (Martine Rothblatt) said, in a wide-spanning conversation that drew an audience of hundreds at the South by Southwest conference." Ummm… (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
There comes that time when people are so fired up to go against a person that they jump the shark and stop making sense. Dear Fox's Outnumbered crew, seriously? A "war on men" because Hillary points out how the conservative lead US Senate is proving the liberal talking points about a "war on women"? That's not even up to the "I know you are but what am I?" level of discourse. Jesus Hopalong Cassidy, we need a better "opposition" group.
You know, during Jim Crow bigots were more than happy to advertise their bigotry. But then, if you have to put a sign in your window displaying your bigotry, that's the antithesis of a dog-whistle and we can't have that. Yep, while the Oklahoma legislature wanted to pass a law that allowed businesses the right to refuse custom because of religious beliefs (read this as "no gayz allowed"), they don't want to make people display their bigotry outright. So when a lawmaker adds an amendment that says, "if you're going to refuse custom, you must post a notice in your window of which custom you'll refuse". And then the bill dies. If that's really the case, then it's not a heart-felt religious belief. You should be proud of your religion and wear it on your sleeve. After all, I'm sure the same people would be all for putting Bibles back in classrooms (like Ricky Santorum stated this weekend). (Grokked from John Scalzi)
"Blaming the poor for abandoning social norms around reproduction and child-rearing makes our glass houses a bit comfier. It makes it easier to ignore our low tax rates and weak safety net. It makes it easier for us to ignore dramatic inequities in our education system. It lets us blame, and scorn the poor. And nothing gladdens the proud human heart quite like judging the weak… That’s how privilege works." Some people (especially on the right, and especially the well off) would do well to remember Maslow's Hierarchy. When you're struggling for just the physiological and safety tiers, it's hard to be worried about the rest of the pyramid.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Linkee-poo to close out a weekend
One of these days, I want a real weekend. I want to have two days in a row where I can sleep in, and don't have to be anywhere. On the plus side, got a 100% on the second test in Sectional Anatomy II ((85+100)/2 = 92.5 = A). Will find out grade on second test in CT Physics this Tuesday (not all that worried about this one). But before then I have a 2 page report to write. Another couple of days at the day thing. Somethings I feel I'm getting ahead on, lots of things getting left behind. Sigh.
When the phenomena of the "Fairy Door" goes too far. Their like dandelions, let one go and soon your yard is full of them. (Grokked from Tor.com)
You know how I say that the pro-life movement isn't ant-abortion, they're actually anti-sexual revolution? That's because they are, and they're coming for your birth control. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"(S)ources within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed Thursday that they now regret wasting doses of pancuronium bromide on innocent prisoners in 1997, 2000, and 2004." Why the Onion is very good at what they do. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
But they support him in email. Um, no, James Knowles III, Mayor of Ferguson, it's time to go. I appreciate the part-timeness of the job. I was a "part-time" councilman for 9 years. When I left I was paid less that you are (and that was after a struggle to double our pay). I understand how somethings can slip by you, especially recent happenings. But after being involved with council and being mayor and the length of time the city has been bilking its residents, if you didn't grok what was going on, you should leave on account of just that. Cluelessness on that level has no place inlace politics. Consider yourself lucky that Missouri doesn't have their own version of the Hatch Act (who knows, IANAL, they might). As a citizen, if your desire is to help transition the city into the civil rights of the 1970s, there are ways to be of service, but not in elected office. Here is your sword, sir. Time for the fall.
When the phenomena of the "Fairy Door" goes too far. Their like dandelions, let one go and soon your yard is full of them. (Grokked from Tor.com)
You know how I say that the pro-life movement isn't ant-abortion, they're actually anti-sexual revolution? That's because they are, and they're coming for your birth control. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"(S)ources within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed Thursday that they now regret wasting doses of pancuronium bromide on innocent prisoners in 1997, 2000, and 2004." Why the Onion is very good at what they do. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
But they support him in email. Um, no, James Knowles III, Mayor of Ferguson, it's time to go. I appreciate the part-timeness of the job. I was a "part-time" councilman for 9 years. When I left I was paid less that you are (and that was after a struggle to double our pay). I understand how somethings can slip by you, especially recent happenings. But after being involved with council and being mayor and the length of time the city has been bilking its residents, if you didn't grok what was going on, you should leave on account of just that. Cluelessness on that level has no place inlace politics. Consider yourself lucky that Missouri doesn't have their own version of the Hatch Act (who knows, IANAL, they might). As a citizen, if your desire is to help transition the city into the civil rights of the 1970s, there are ways to be of service, but not in elected office. Here is your sword, sir. Time for the fall.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Linkee-poo doesn't care for sugar, honey, if I can't have you
Shannon Hale's experiences of giving talks at schools. Being a woman, many administrations believe only girls would be interested in what she writes and has to say. Yes, this sort of shit is still going on.
That Con Man Indygogo thing all the cool kids are talking about. (Grokked from John)
The scourge of the swear system, the wet wipe. At the hospital, they've tried to ban their "flushing" to some degree of success. The problem is (besides the fact that the flushable kind really aren't) is that the consumer doesn't really see a difference. To the end user, they are all flushable because one or two are. Plus, they're using them in place of toilet paper, which we flush. So in most peoples' minds, the wipes are all flushable. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
The BBC has developed their own microcomputer and will give it away to kids in the UK in an attempt to relaunch a "programming culture." “The kids can do their main programming at school – they might have written a piece of code to scroll text and make the lights flash – but then you can imagine them being on the bus on the way home and reprogramming it from their mobile phone over Bluetooth to send messages from the back of the bus.” Yes. Yes I can imagine it. And just what do you think those kids will program it to send? What could possibly go wrong? I and my college friends we a part of that first programming culture with the advent of "cheap" computers and the BASIC language, so I actually do wholeheartedly support this attempt. To many younger people are labeled as "so technologically adapt" when they're mostly users (don't worry, kids, so are most of your parents and everyone else). But, at least from what I can see, kids don't have a strong fundamental on how technology works. They really should. Granted, you don't need to be able to diagram the structure of an internet packet, but they should know the basics of how packets are created and then reassembled (or even that data is sent in packets). (Grokked from John)
The killer USB drive. No, really, this would kill your computer if you inserted it into the USB port.
Oceans are everywhere. We once thought Earth was special for life because water appeared to be rare everywhere else. Turns out we were wrong about that. This is how science changes its mind, by actual data and methods developed by people motivated to help us understand our universe and ourselves better. It's not done by political process and people throwing hissy fits. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
A documentary of "Japanese people who live in Internet cafes because they can't afford apartments." Fuel for your novel of a dystopian future.
Just one of the things I came away with from the Apple event earlier this week. "In the end, it’s not really enough. Mac laptops are going to go crashing to the ground in vastly greater quantities than they have over the last several years. I’ve heard it said since Monday morning that MagSafe was the single best hardware feature Apple invented for its laptops, and I’m hard pressed to deny that—although extra-long battery life is nice, too." Having had laptops (and other devices) without MagSafe and one with, I can't tell you how much better MagSafe is. What will probably happen, is someone will come out with a USB-C with a MagSafe breakaway on the cable. If I have to get one of these Macs, I would so buy one. Hell, I'd buy one made for the thunderbolt connection right now. (Grokked from BoingBoing)
Two articles on the fight to protect all health care for women. The first talks about the work of the clinic escorts, the second is about survivors of rape and incest sharing their stories to debunk and shame other politicians into doing the right thing. And the sad truth is at the end of that second article, "This bill, I predict, will pass. This bill will traumatize people, and it will put doctors in danger, because one of the provisions of the bill will make it so that doctors' personal information, like their address, will be made public."
"I left the Dollar General realizing that dictating what you can buy with food stamps is the kind of thing that only sounds good to people who don't actually have to survive on a poverty income… SNAP recipients already eat more virtuously than the rest of us. A 2008 USDA report found that they are less likely than those with higher incomes to consume at least one serving of sweets or salty snacks per day. More recently, a 2015 USDA study concluded that, adjusting for demographic differences, people who take SNAP benefits don't consume any more sugary drinks than their low-income peers who aren't in the program." Funny how you don't hear about that during the debates of who much to cut from social welfare programs. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
Hey, you know how conservatives love to talk about how efficient and cost-effective the private sector is and how we should just hand everything over to private companies. Sort of like we did with Medicare reform that brought in private insurance companies to handle Medicare Advantage accounts. So, how's that working out for us? "But overspending tied to rising risk scores has cost taxpayers billions of dollars in recent years, as the Center for Public Integrity reported in a series of articles published last year. Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office estimated 'improper payments' to Medicare Advantage plans at more than $12 billion in 2014." Well, I bet if we go after all that other fraud out there, like stopping individuals from getting heart valve transplants before their natural heart valves completely fail (yes, I know someone in that situation), yea, that'll save us some money. And I'm sure conservatives are fighting to make sure we reform this part of Medicare. "The Medicare Advantage industry is lobbying hard to block budget cuts sought by the Obama administration."
"The Congressional Budget Office expects that the federal government will spend $849 billion on Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies — $209 billion less than the scorekeeping agency expected a year ago. That works out to the federal government spending 20 percent less than expected… CBO also expects the federal government to spend less on Medicaid… $73 billion less than expected between 2016 and 2024." Just in case you hear someone spouting off about how much more the ACA is costing us. As I said at the time, what Obamacare was mostly going to do is cost shifting, taking what we spent occultly on covering the healthcare of everyone and bring it out into the open. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"We even have three states with pending bills that would make it nearly impossible for transgender students and citizens to even use a public bathroom. Business owners who let transgender people would face fines and lawsuits. Individuals who turn in transgender students would receive $2000 bounties according to the latest bill in Texas." What the total fuck?! Okay, I'm approaching the edge of tolerance and am approaching the "maybe if we burn the whole world down the roaches will do a better job at civilization" line. And if you don't think I don't know how to burn the world down, you don't know me very well (also, no, this wouldn't be an "internet" thing). At this point, maybe we'll start with Texas and see how that plays out. Seriously conservatives, if you think I've been mean before, you ain't seen nothing yet. Putting bounties on people is so far over the line, I don't think there's a chance we can bring you back. And since you ask others this question, I don't see any conservatives denouncing this, so you all must agree with it. Something about living by the sword. (Grokked from CC Findley)
That Con Man Indygogo thing all the cool kids are talking about. (Grokked from John)
The scourge of the swear system, the wet wipe. At the hospital, they've tried to ban their "flushing" to some degree of success. The problem is (besides the fact that the flushable kind really aren't) is that the consumer doesn't really see a difference. To the end user, they are all flushable because one or two are. Plus, they're using them in place of toilet paper, which we flush. So in most peoples' minds, the wipes are all flushable. (Grokked from John Scalzi)
The BBC has developed their own microcomputer and will give it away to kids in the UK in an attempt to relaunch a "programming culture." “The kids can do their main programming at school – they might have written a piece of code to scroll text and make the lights flash – but then you can imagine them being on the bus on the way home and reprogramming it from their mobile phone over Bluetooth to send messages from the back of the bus.” Yes. Yes I can imagine it. And just what do you think those kids will program it to send? What could possibly go wrong? I and my college friends we a part of that first programming culture with the advent of "cheap" computers and the BASIC language, so I actually do wholeheartedly support this attempt. To many younger people are labeled as "so technologically adapt" when they're mostly users (don't worry, kids, so are most of your parents and everyone else). But, at least from what I can see, kids don't have a strong fundamental on how technology works. They really should. Granted, you don't need to be able to diagram the structure of an internet packet, but they should know the basics of how packets are created and then reassembled (or even that data is sent in packets). (Grokked from John)
The killer USB drive. No, really, this would kill your computer if you inserted it into the USB port.
Oceans are everywhere. We once thought Earth was special for life because water appeared to be rare everywhere else. Turns out we were wrong about that. This is how science changes its mind, by actual data and methods developed by people motivated to help us understand our universe and ourselves better. It's not done by political process and people throwing hissy fits. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
A documentary of "Japanese people who live in Internet cafes because they can't afford apartments." Fuel for your novel of a dystopian future.
Just one of the things I came away with from the Apple event earlier this week. "In the end, it’s not really enough. Mac laptops are going to go crashing to the ground in vastly greater quantities than they have over the last several years. I’ve heard it said since Monday morning that MagSafe was the single best hardware feature Apple invented for its laptops, and I’m hard pressed to deny that—although extra-long battery life is nice, too." Having had laptops (and other devices) without MagSafe and one with, I can't tell you how much better MagSafe is. What will probably happen, is someone will come out with a USB-C with a MagSafe breakaway on the cable. If I have to get one of these Macs, I would so buy one. Hell, I'd buy one made for the thunderbolt connection right now. (Grokked from BoingBoing)
Two articles on the fight to protect all health care for women. The first talks about the work of the clinic escorts, the second is about survivors of rape and incest sharing their stories to debunk and shame other politicians into doing the right thing. And the sad truth is at the end of that second article, "This bill, I predict, will pass. This bill will traumatize people, and it will put doctors in danger, because one of the provisions of the bill will make it so that doctors' personal information, like their address, will be made public."
"I left the Dollar General realizing that dictating what you can buy with food stamps is the kind of thing that only sounds good to people who don't actually have to survive on a poverty income… SNAP recipients already eat more virtuously than the rest of us. A 2008 USDA report found that they are less likely than those with higher incomes to consume at least one serving of sweets or salty snacks per day. More recently, a 2015 USDA study concluded that, adjusting for demographic differences, people who take SNAP benefits don't consume any more sugary drinks than their low-income peers who aren't in the program." Funny how you don't hear about that during the debates of who much to cut from social welfare programs. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
Hey, you know how conservatives love to talk about how efficient and cost-effective the private sector is and how we should just hand everything over to private companies. Sort of like we did with Medicare reform that brought in private insurance companies to handle Medicare Advantage accounts. So, how's that working out for us? "But overspending tied to rising risk scores has cost taxpayers billions of dollars in recent years, as the Center for Public Integrity reported in a series of articles published last year. Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office estimated 'improper payments' to Medicare Advantage plans at more than $12 billion in 2014." Well, I bet if we go after all that other fraud out there, like stopping individuals from getting heart valve transplants before their natural heart valves completely fail (yes, I know someone in that situation), yea, that'll save us some money. And I'm sure conservatives are fighting to make sure we reform this part of Medicare. "The Medicare Advantage industry is lobbying hard to block budget cuts sought by the Obama administration."
"The Congressional Budget Office expects that the federal government will spend $849 billion on Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies — $209 billion less than the scorekeeping agency expected a year ago. That works out to the federal government spending 20 percent less than expected… CBO also expects the federal government to spend less on Medicaid… $73 billion less than expected between 2016 and 2024." Just in case you hear someone spouting off about how much more the ACA is costing us. As I said at the time, what Obamacare was mostly going to do is cost shifting, taking what we spent occultly on covering the healthcare of everyone and bring it out into the open. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
"We even have three states with pending bills that would make it nearly impossible for transgender students and citizens to even use a public bathroom. Business owners who let transgender people would face fines and lawsuits. Individuals who turn in transgender students would receive $2000 bounties according to the latest bill in Texas." What the total fuck?! Okay, I'm approaching the edge of tolerance and am approaching the "maybe if we burn the whole world down the roaches will do a better job at civilization" line. And if you don't think I don't know how to burn the world down, you don't know me very well (also, no, this wouldn't be an "internet" thing). At this point, maybe we'll start with Texas and see how that plays out. Seriously conservatives, if you think I've been mean before, you ain't seen nothing yet. Putting bounties on people is so far over the line, I don't think there's a chance we can bring you back. And since you ask others this question, I don't see any conservatives denouncing this, so you all must agree with it. Something about living by the sword. (Grokked from CC Findley)
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Linkee-poo, together we could break this trap, we'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Chuck Wendig with how to make the most out of a critique.
The Bloom County / Outland Humble Bundle. (Grokked from John)
How DST really screws with our bodies.
That Main Inn being "given away" in an essay contest. Note most places don't mention the $170 entry fee. And the website of the actual inn. (Grokked from many places, but this article is from Kameron Hurley)
Okay, you can now play the classic Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy text based game in a web browser. I remember when this game launched. Yes, all that hyperbole about it's text parser was very justified.
How Mexico learned to polka.
"'These findings add to the possibility that Enceladus, which contains a subsurface ocean and displays remarkable geologic activity, could contain environments suitable for living organisms,' said John Grunsfeld astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington." (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
The abandoned microwave towers of America. This was all the rage when I was younger. The article talks about how fiber optics spelled their doom, which is nonsense. Cheap communications with a constellation of geosynchronous satellites is what spelled their downfall. By the time fiber optics showed up the system was also out of widespread use. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Within a few years the vast majority of Nicaragua's electricity will come from hydroelectric dams, geothermal plants and wind farms." Glad the US is leading the world.
Sometimes it's easier to see the mote in another's eye than the beam in your own. Or, seeing how an Israeli settler and a Palestinian living in the village below the settlement view each other and their relationships you can extrapolate to race relations elsewhere (like the US). Both live a few miles apart, but are worlds apart in how they view the place of the other and how they live and deal with the issues directly affecting their lives.
The Bloom County / Outland Humble Bundle. (Grokked from John)
How DST really screws with our bodies.
That Main Inn being "given away" in an essay contest. Note most places don't mention the $170 entry fee. And the website of the actual inn. (Grokked from many places, but this article is from Kameron Hurley)
Okay, you can now play the classic Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy text based game in a web browser. I remember when this game launched. Yes, all that hyperbole about it's text parser was very justified.
How Mexico learned to polka.
"'These findings add to the possibility that Enceladus, which contains a subsurface ocean and displays remarkable geologic activity, could contain environments suitable for living organisms,' said John Grunsfeld astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington." (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
The abandoned microwave towers of America. This was all the rage when I was younger. The article talks about how fiber optics spelled their doom, which is nonsense. Cheap communications with a constellation of geosynchronous satellites is what spelled their downfall. By the time fiber optics showed up the system was also out of widespread use. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"Within a few years the vast majority of Nicaragua's electricity will come from hydroelectric dams, geothermal plants and wind farms." Glad the US is leading the world.
Sometimes it's easier to see the mote in another's eye than the beam in your own. Or, seeing how an Israeli settler and a Palestinian living in the village below the settlement view each other and their relationships you can extrapolate to race relations elsewhere (like the US). Both live a few miles apart, but are worlds apart in how they view the place of the other and how they live and deal with the issues directly affecting their lives.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Linkee-poo heard you on the wireless back in '52
Welp, here's something that we didn't know about climate change. "Archaeologists note that Arica is extremely dry… but the humidity levels in the region have recently risen. The higher humidity means microbes are breaking down the Chinchorro mummies, essentially turning them to goo." (Grokked from Matt Stages)
"Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wasn't moved by the letter (signed by 47 GOP Senators)… (and) lashed back at Cotton and his allies, pointing out technical errors in their description of how the U.S. Constitution works." You know, it's sad that these senators sent a letter sent to a foreign minister that includes the phrase, "you may not fully understand our constitutional system" only to be schooled by that foreign minister on the said Constitution. Seriously, dudes, you're an embarrassment to everybody. Also, you may be in violation of the Logan Act. But then, I know you all don't know about that, what with the actions of President Nixon and President Reagan.
As a demonstration that idiocy isn't owned by one political party, "At a New Mexico House Judiciary Committee hearing last week state Rep. Ken Martinez (D) said 'rape is defined in many ways and some of it is just drunken college sex.'" No. No it's not. I've had drunken college sex, still made sure we were all on the same page we were before the drunken part (have also said "nope" because consent wasn't there before the drunken part). Dear Rep. Martinez, I'm sure in your mind you think you said the right thing, in that case, though, you should apologize that you didn't make your comment properly and may have confused people on your stance. And then you correct the record. You don't "stand behind what you said" and try to critizie others for not hearing any qualifying remarks.
"On Tuesday, a book and a separate study are being released — both turning up evidence that the one-generation leap is getting harder to accomplish in an economy so tied to education, technological know-how and networking." And, in other news, water is surprisingly wet. The reports tear down some long cherished axioms and thoughts of America, while promoting some other destructive concepts. So it's more of a lose-lose proposition. Some of my longer time readers will note I've described myself as having "clawed" my way up from working-poor. I'm not being dramatic. And if you ask me what really haunts me in the dark midnight of dreams, it's the fear I'll lose what little I've gained.
A few years ago I sat in a panel discussing the use of psychedelics as pharmacologicals (LSD as the new aspirin, sorta). I was there and took the "con" side of the table. One of my arguments was that psychedelic use could led to increases in psychosis. My bad. "Data from population surveys in the United States challenge public fears that psychedelic drugs such as LSD can lead to psychosis and other mental-health conditions and to increased risk of suicide, two studies have found." To my credit, I did make other arguments. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
Everybody does it is NOT a defense against racism. Can we just agree to that? Or do we need to buy everyone a copy of that Bruce Hornsby song?
"Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wasn't moved by the letter (signed by 47 GOP Senators)… (and) lashed back at Cotton and his allies, pointing out technical errors in their description of how the U.S. Constitution works." You know, it's sad that these senators sent a letter sent to a foreign minister that includes the phrase, "you may not fully understand our constitutional system" only to be schooled by that foreign minister on the said Constitution. Seriously, dudes, you're an embarrassment to everybody. Also, you may be in violation of the Logan Act. But then, I know you all don't know about that, what with the actions of President Nixon and President Reagan.
As a demonstration that idiocy isn't owned by one political party, "At a New Mexico House Judiciary Committee hearing last week state Rep. Ken Martinez (D) said 'rape is defined in many ways and some of it is just drunken college sex.'" No. No it's not. I've had drunken college sex, still made sure we were all on the same page we were before the drunken part (have also said "nope" because consent wasn't there before the drunken part). Dear Rep. Martinez, I'm sure in your mind you think you said the right thing, in that case, though, you should apologize that you didn't make your comment properly and may have confused people on your stance. And then you correct the record. You don't "stand behind what you said" and try to critizie others for not hearing any qualifying remarks.
"On Tuesday, a book and a separate study are being released — both turning up evidence that the one-generation leap is getting harder to accomplish in an economy so tied to education, technological know-how and networking." And, in other news, water is surprisingly wet. The reports tear down some long cherished axioms and thoughts of America, while promoting some other destructive concepts. So it's more of a lose-lose proposition. Some of my longer time readers will note I've described myself as having "clawed" my way up from working-poor. I'm not being dramatic. And if you ask me what really haunts me in the dark midnight of dreams, it's the fear I'll lose what little I've gained.
A few years ago I sat in a panel discussing the use of psychedelics as pharmacologicals (LSD as the new aspirin, sorta). I was there and took the "con" side of the table. One of my arguments was that psychedelic use could led to increases in psychosis. My bad. "Data from population surveys in the United States challenge public fears that psychedelic drugs such as LSD can lead to psychosis and other mental-health conditions and to increased risk of suicide, two studies have found." To my credit, I did make other arguments. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)
Everybody does it is NOT a defense against racism. Can we just agree to that? Or do we need to buy everyone a copy of that Bruce Hornsby song?
Monday, March 9, 2015
Linkee-poo is your one-way ticket to midnight
So, what did we learn from the Apple event today? We all need to buy new cables and adapters. Again.
I missed the book launch, but Fred Clark has made a book of his research and dissection of the Left Behind series.
Neil Gaiman on Douglas Adams. This is, for me, like listening to Steven Spielberg talk about Alfred Hitchcock.
Cat Rambo on grabbing the reader. I'm not sure I agree with the angle of the quote she uses (digesting a number of writing epiphanies from today so that may change), but it may help you.
Why do you need a designer for your ebook? This is why. The tumblr for Kindle Cover Disasters. (Grokked from John)
Looking for new music? Can't get to SXSW? Okay, how about a selection of 100 songs, as curated by NPR, from bands that will be there? Not exactly keeping Austin weird, but definitely much cheaper.
A short film about a boy and his kite, rendered in real time using the released Unreal Engine 4. Everybody can talk about Moores' Law, kilobytes to terabytes and Hz to GHz or even how with new chips, because of the light used to etch the silicon has to be of such high energy (high frequency), the lenses used are opaque in "white light" mean just how far we've come in computing power, but this is just frackin' amazing to me. When I learned computer animation, even if we could have gotten the fractal trees and motion study (not to mention sub-engines to run realistic fabric, water, sky, wind, and hair), when you did something like this you needed a thing called a "render farm" (picture 30-80 computers locked in a room with some heavy duty air-conditioning) and it would crank for a week generating comparative years of processing time to get that bit of video. That's a little too long to substitute, "we had to walk, uphill, both ways", but yea, that's the gist. "Back in the day, we computed using bear skins and flint knives." (Grokked from Dan)
"The Olympics are coming to London, so our civil liberties are going out the window… Police will have powers to enter private homes and seize posters, and will be able to stop people carrying non-sponsor items to sporting events." Smile for the TV, Winston. THAT is just freaking creepy, okay. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell, I think)
So, just in case you still think you can trust the police. Most police officers don't act this way, faking evidence and testimony (that is, seven officers all agreeing to testify a certain way and making legal statements about what their testimony will be), but as the article ends, that thin, blue line protects the bad ones as well as the good ones. This shouldn't be the case, because you all, the good and the bad, are going to get painted with the same broad brush. Because just like the conservatives need to realize, there is always someone taking video. And any attempt to stop civilians from photographing or taking video all appear as attempts to cover up bad behavior not matter what you may say. (Grokked from Diana Rowland)
So, Block Island will get the first offshore wind farm in the US. And it will cut resident's electrical bills by 40%. Suck it, Cape Cod (and related islands). (Grokked from Dan)
Rand Paul will be able to run for President and for his Senate Seat. Because, for the top conservatives, the rules don't apply. In this case, Kentucky has a prohibition against a candidate appearing twice on the same ballot. But only the schlubs have to follow the law.
"Officials at Florida’s (Department of Environmental Protection) have banned the words “climate change” and “global warming” from all official communications, including reports and emails, according to an investigation published Sunday by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR)." Because if we don't talk about it, it isn't real. Until it swamps Florida. Oh conservatives, tell me again about the evils of being Politically Correct, 'cause that never gets old. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The limits of conservative compassion. Or, another example (actually "examples") of "got mine, fuck you." (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)
I missed the book launch, but Fred Clark has made a book of his research and dissection of the Left Behind series.
Neil Gaiman on Douglas Adams. This is, for me, like listening to Steven Spielberg talk about Alfred Hitchcock.
Cat Rambo on grabbing the reader. I'm not sure I agree with the angle of the quote she uses (digesting a number of writing epiphanies from today so that may change), but it may help you.
Why do you need a designer for your ebook? This is why. The tumblr for Kindle Cover Disasters. (Grokked from John)
Looking for new music? Can't get to SXSW? Okay, how about a selection of 100 songs, as curated by NPR, from bands that will be there? Not exactly keeping Austin weird, but definitely much cheaper.
A short film about a boy and his kite, rendered in real time using the released Unreal Engine 4. Everybody can talk about Moores' Law, kilobytes to terabytes and Hz to GHz or even how with new chips, because of the light used to etch the silicon has to be of such high energy (high frequency), the lenses used are opaque in "white light" mean just how far we've come in computing power, but this is just frackin' amazing to me. When I learned computer animation, even if we could have gotten the fractal trees and motion study (not to mention sub-engines to run realistic fabric, water, sky, wind, and hair), when you did something like this you needed a thing called a "render farm" (picture 30-80 computers locked in a room with some heavy duty air-conditioning) and it would crank for a week generating comparative years of processing time to get that bit of video. That's a little too long to substitute, "we had to walk, uphill, both ways", but yea, that's the gist. "Back in the day, we computed using bear skins and flint knives." (Grokked from Dan)
"The Olympics are coming to London, so our civil liberties are going out the window… Police will have powers to enter private homes and seize posters, and will be able to stop people carrying non-sponsor items to sporting events." Smile for the TV, Winston. THAT is just freaking creepy, okay. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell, I think)
So, just in case you still think you can trust the police. Most police officers don't act this way, faking evidence and testimony (that is, seven officers all agreeing to testify a certain way and making legal statements about what their testimony will be), but as the article ends, that thin, blue line protects the bad ones as well as the good ones. This shouldn't be the case, because you all, the good and the bad, are going to get painted with the same broad brush. Because just like the conservatives need to realize, there is always someone taking video. And any attempt to stop civilians from photographing or taking video all appear as attempts to cover up bad behavior not matter what you may say. (Grokked from Diana Rowland)
So, Block Island will get the first offshore wind farm in the US. And it will cut resident's electrical bills by 40%. Suck it, Cape Cod (and related islands). (Grokked from Dan)
Rand Paul will be able to run for President and for his Senate Seat. Because, for the top conservatives, the rules don't apply. In this case, Kentucky has a prohibition against a candidate appearing twice on the same ballot. But only the schlubs have to follow the law.
"Officials at Florida’s (Department of Environmental Protection) have banned the words “climate change” and “global warming” from all official communications, including reports and emails, according to an investigation published Sunday by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR)." Because if we don't talk about it, it isn't real. Until it swamps Florida. Oh conservatives, tell me again about the evils of being Politically Correct, 'cause that never gets old. (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)
The limits of conservative compassion. Or, another example (actually "examples") of "got mine, fuck you." (Grokked from Teresa Nielsen Hayden)
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Linkee-poo has had a long week
Robert Jackson Bennett on that horrible, self-righteous and self-aggrandizing article on talent. Growing up there were at least 3 other guitar players who had more "talent" than I had, but I was the rhythm guitarist for our stage band and have some of my licks on (admittedly "self-published", but by other people) records (back when vinyl was it, baby). Why, because I had to work at it. Not one of those guys still plays or every made it anywhere in a band. Oh, they had bands. They didn't even compete in the talent contests or show up at fairs. They were too good for that. When you love something enough to fight for it, you can break through that level that "talent" gets you to and reach "professional" levels. If all you have is talent, you'll be the best there "could have been" ever. Because eventually it gets hard and if you don't know how to work for it, that's a hell of a learning curve to get over. I can speak from experience having done that more than once.
Editors note: graduated last summer summa cum laude not from "talent" or "skill" or "just gets it", but because I worked my ass off, which I didn't do my first 3 years in college. I didn't have to work to learn things and a C was good enough. This degree I needed, wanted, and hungered for that A. It's my promise to myself to approach writing the same way once I'm able to get back to it. [insert long-winded discussion of having realized I was skating by and floundering, now I see I need a more disciplined approach, and why Sonnet 29 has been haunting me]
The ACE score, or 10 questions your doctor doesn't want to ask you, but could help determine you chance of developing some health problems. Unfortunately, as the story talks about, there's no course of "treatment" or way to avoid these health issues (other than what we're already doing). Me? Seven out of 10. (Grokked from Tania)
Catherine Shaffer on on finding your way back. It's a difficult thing to explain and understand unless you've experienced that detachment from your own body.
The crime of allowing people to live in squalor. Not only is it demeaning, it costs us all a lot more and is deleterious to the health of the people who have to live in those conditions.
"Fewer American workers are taking time for lunch. Research shows that only 1 in 5 five people steps away for a midday meal. Most workers are simply eating at their desks." I so feel this. Normally I take only a half hour, and lately I've been going into the warehouse to eat. And people have been known to find me there to tell me something that isn't timely. Seriously. Tell me again how business shouldn't be regulated. There are hard numbers that allowing your employees to have their lunch hours increases productivity. Taking vacations also have the same effect. Having paid sick leave, regular hours, having email access turned off after business hours, all have been shown to have demonstrable effects on increase creativity and productivity. But these are the very things that business' as a whole are trying to stamp out. "People who are in more staff or line jobs that are unionized or regulated by labor rules, [those] are the people who are left taking lunch — because it's mandated. But for white-collar workers and managers it's not, and so they're the group who are least likely to take lunch."
What's love got to do with it? The Alabama Supreme Court strikes back and issues an order to stop county courthouses from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. However, in doing so they've contradicted all the claims of "marriage is a religious institution" (which is okay, because it isn't). "'This notion (public chanting "love matters" outside the courthouse) has broad public appeal and is, perhaps, the mantra most repeated in public discussions of this matter,' the court wrote. 'But although love may be an important factor in a lasting marriage, civil marriage has no public interest in whether the people seeking a marriage license love one another.'" Civil marriage, that means "the state controls marriages".
This must have been what the conservatives called the English no-go zones. Only, here are members of the Islamic community renovating an abandoned (but not un-consecrated) church as a community center of "All Souls." Look, it's one of those armor-plated llamas.
Well, I'm glad you're hate isn't based on ignorance. "State Sen. Steve Vick (R)[said] on Monday that he would walk out of the invocation, delivered by Hindu leader Rajan Zed. He explained that the U.S. was 'built on the Judeo-Christian not only religion but work ethic,' and said he didn't want to see that 'undermined.'… Hindus 'have a caste system,' he added. 'They worship cows.'" Okay, well India does have a caste system (not necessarily just Hinduism), but they don't worship cows. In my head I hear Raj saying, "Do not tell me about my own culture, Sheldon." So, how does being a hateful, vengeful ass fit into your idea of Judeo-Christianism, Sen. Vick? Do you worship your god with those lips?
"Describing its policing practices as totally out of step with the nation as a whole, the U.S. Department of Justice called on Ferguson, MO to take immediate action to align its level of institutional racism with the rest of the country, sources said Thursday." Please don't take my Onion away. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
"'Our teen birth rate has dropped 40 percent over the last four years,' says (Larry) Wolk. 'The decline in teen births has been accompanied by a 34 percent drop in abortions among teens.'" But the pro-lifers will try and shut it down. Granted, the program to provide IUDs to poor women was initially funded by private money, but it's proved its worth. It is cheaper for the State of Colorado to continue the program than it is to let it die. But, because the Pro-Life movement is not about actually reducing abortions (but is all about rolling back the sexual revolution) they will kill the bill.
Editors note: graduated last summer summa cum laude not from "talent" or "skill" or "just gets it", but because I worked my ass off, which I didn't do my first 3 years in college. I didn't have to work to learn things and a C was good enough. This degree I needed, wanted, and hungered for that A. It's my promise to myself to approach writing the same way once I'm able to get back to it. [insert long-winded discussion of having realized I was skating by and floundering, now I see I need a more disciplined approach, and why Sonnet 29 has been haunting me]
The ACE score, or 10 questions your doctor doesn't want to ask you, but could help determine you chance of developing some health problems. Unfortunately, as the story talks about, there's no course of "treatment" or way to avoid these health issues (other than what we're already doing). Me? Seven out of 10. (Grokked from Tania)
Catherine Shaffer on on finding your way back. It's a difficult thing to explain and understand unless you've experienced that detachment from your own body.
The crime of allowing people to live in squalor. Not only is it demeaning, it costs us all a lot more and is deleterious to the health of the people who have to live in those conditions.
"Fewer American workers are taking time for lunch. Research shows that only 1 in 5 five people steps away for a midday meal. Most workers are simply eating at their desks." I so feel this. Normally I take only a half hour, and lately I've been going into the warehouse to eat. And people have been known to find me there to tell me something that isn't timely. Seriously. Tell me again how business shouldn't be regulated. There are hard numbers that allowing your employees to have their lunch hours increases productivity. Taking vacations also have the same effect. Having paid sick leave, regular hours, having email access turned off after business hours, all have been shown to have demonstrable effects on increase creativity and productivity. But these are the very things that business' as a whole are trying to stamp out. "People who are in more staff or line jobs that are unionized or regulated by labor rules, [those] are the people who are left taking lunch — because it's mandated. But for white-collar workers and managers it's not, and so they're the group who are least likely to take lunch."
What's love got to do with it? The Alabama Supreme Court strikes back and issues an order to stop county courthouses from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. However, in doing so they've contradicted all the claims of "marriage is a religious institution" (which is okay, because it isn't). "'This notion (public chanting "love matters" outside the courthouse) has broad public appeal and is, perhaps, the mantra most repeated in public discussions of this matter,' the court wrote. 'But although love may be an important factor in a lasting marriage, civil marriage has no public interest in whether the people seeking a marriage license love one another.'" Civil marriage, that means "the state controls marriages".
This must have been what the conservatives called the English no-go zones. Only, here are members of the Islamic community renovating an abandoned (but not un-consecrated) church as a community center of "All Souls." Look, it's one of those armor-plated llamas.
Well, I'm glad you're hate isn't based on ignorance. "State Sen. Steve Vick (R)[said] on Monday that he would walk out of the invocation, delivered by Hindu leader Rajan Zed. He explained that the U.S. was 'built on the Judeo-Christian not only religion but work ethic,' and said he didn't want to see that 'undermined.'… Hindus 'have a caste system,' he added. 'They worship cows.'" Okay, well India does have a caste system (not necessarily just Hinduism), but they don't worship cows. In my head I hear Raj saying, "Do not tell me about my own culture, Sheldon." So, how does being a hateful, vengeful ass fit into your idea of Judeo-Christianism, Sen. Vick? Do you worship your god with those lips?
"Describing its policing practices as totally out of step with the nation as a whole, the U.S. Department of Justice called on Ferguson, MO to take immediate action to align its level of institutional racism with the rest of the country, sources said Thursday." Please don't take my Onion away. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
"'Our teen birth rate has dropped 40 percent over the last four years,' says (Larry) Wolk. 'The decline in teen births has been accompanied by a 34 percent drop in abortions among teens.'" But the pro-lifers will try and shut it down. Granted, the program to provide IUDs to poor women was initially funded by private money, but it's proved its worth. It is cheaper for the State of Colorado to continue the program than it is to let it die. But, because the Pro-Life movement is not about actually reducing abortions (but is all about rolling back the sexual revolution) they will kill the bill.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Linkee-poo, no one flies around the sun
Ferrett Steinmetz's book is out today. Happy book day, Ferrett!
The reality of the six-figure book deal. Just in case your writing dreams needed crushing this week. (Grokked from practically everyone)
My father, the pornographer. Chris Offutt writes the biography of his father (and mother) who helped pay the bills by writing porn. There's no judgement here, hell, if I could write it, there's still a hellalotta money to be made.
Annalee Flower Horne on not being broken. I'm glad that terms used to describe people that have had traumatic events in their lives (broken, damaged, dysfunctional) are starting to lose favor in the popular culture. On the other hand, those words die hard.
We've come full circle, we now have computers that can play computer games. How about a nice game of chess? Okay, well, yea, it is kinda a break through. The computer was just given the game and the basics of how games are played, but not the rules or goals of the various classic arcade games. The program had to figure that out for itself. I wonder how many quarters it had to use? (Grokked from Dan)
John Scalzi offers a menu of responses to online stupidity. Now, just like at a Chinese restaurant, you can order by number. "Oh, you wanted Beef and Broccoli?" To this list I would add "13. Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son," because, well, who doesn't love a Dean Wormer quote (extra points if you didn't have to Google that one).
So, Speaker Boehner does what everybody knew would happen, use the lawsuit against President Obama's executive orders on immigration as an out to abandon attaching language to the DHS funding bill. And now the shit will fly.
On February 3, "(a) 20-year-old U.S. military weather satellite apparently exploded for no obvious reason." Uncontrolled chain reaction, or a laser strike on a satellite someone didn't think anyone was using anymore? In either case, wasn't this the plot bunny from Gavity? (Grokked from Dan)
Hey, ho, way to go Ohio. Yep, little by little a woman's right to choose is being whittled away. Remember, conservatives are the ones who say government should regulate less and stay the heck out of your lives. Unless they don't like what you're doing, and then they'll regulate and interfere like hell.
You know how conservatives are all for the "open market"? Yea, well, not so much when it's their pocket-book being threatened. In this case, how the Kochs and others are trying to hamper the installation of consumer solar power. This is why you hear so much hype against it, many powerful people are seeing their profits going down and they're going to fight like hell to make sure they keep that profit margin. Also connected, the Ohio PUCO in a rare example of actually protecting the public, rejects AEP's attempt to saddle rate payers with the extra costs of running older coal-fired power plants (in other words, they wanted to make the citizens to cover their losses as the power plants age out into obsolescence). Yea, this is going to be a hard fight with lots of propaganda being spewed. (Grokked from Dan)
Boom gone bust.
The reality of the six-figure book deal. Just in case your writing dreams needed crushing this week. (Grokked from practically everyone)
My father, the pornographer. Chris Offutt writes the biography of his father (and mother) who helped pay the bills by writing porn. There's no judgement here, hell, if I could write it, there's still a hellalotta money to be made.
Annalee Flower Horne on not being broken. I'm glad that terms used to describe people that have had traumatic events in their lives (broken, damaged, dysfunctional) are starting to lose favor in the popular culture. On the other hand, those words die hard.
We've come full circle, we now have computers that can play computer games. How about a nice game of chess? Okay, well, yea, it is kinda a break through. The computer was just given the game and the basics of how games are played, but not the rules or goals of the various classic arcade games. The program had to figure that out for itself. I wonder how many quarters it had to use? (Grokked from Dan)
John Scalzi offers a menu of responses to online stupidity. Now, just like at a Chinese restaurant, you can order by number. "Oh, you wanted Beef and Broccoli?" To this list I would add "13. Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son," because, well, who doesn't love a Dean Wormer quote (extra points if you didn't have to Google that one).
So, Speaker Boehner does what everybody knew would happen, use the lawsuit against President Obama's executive orders on immigration as an out to abandon attaching language to the DHS funding bill. And now the shit will fly.
On February 3, "(a) 20-year-old U.S. military weather satellite apparently exploded for no obvious reason." Uncontrolled chain reaction, or a laser strike on a satellite someone didn't think anyone was using anymore? In either case, wasn't this the plot bunny from Gavity? (Grokked from Dan)
Hey, ho, way to go Ohio. Yep, little by little a woman's right to choose is being whittled away. Remember, conservatives are the ones who say government should regulate less and stay the heck out of your lives. Unless they don't like what you're doing, and then they'll regulate and interfere like hell.
You know how conservatives are all for the "open market"? Yea, well, not so much when it's their pocket-book being threatened. In this case, how the Kochs and others are trying to hamper the installation of consumer solar power. This is why you hear so much hype against it, many powerful people are seeing their profits going down and they're going to fight like hell to make sure they keep that profit margin. Also connected, the Ohio PUCO in a rare example of actually protecting the public, rejects AEP's attempt to saddle rate payers with the extra costs of running older coal-fired power plants (in other words, they wanted to make the citizens to cover their losses as the power plants age out into obsolescence). Yea, this is going to be a hard fight with lots of propaganda being spewed. (Grokked from Dan)
Boom gone bust.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Linkee-poo signs the song that others have sung
Lots of Tor.com links, guess which feed I caught up with this weekend. No, really, guess. :)
The forgot ichor. The ten most used words of HP Lovecraft.
And the 10 worst misconceptions about medieval life you'd get from fantasy books. That and going to Ren Faires. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Stephen King's everything you need to know about writing successfully in 10 minutes. Interesting to see how his opinions changed from when this was published till when On Writing was published.
Chrissie Hynde famously said of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, "They killed my rock 'n roll and this is its gravestone." When the Wall Street Journal has an article on "slipstream" fiction, does that mean it's dead as well? (Grokked from Tor.com)
I'm sure it's because Kelly Link has a new book and she's being interviewed and name dropped everywhere. (Also grokked from Tor.com)
Cartoon Network is relaunching the Powerpuff Girls. Freaking awesome. I think my squee gland just broke. (Grokked from Tor.com)
(Near) Space tourism by ballon. You know, when I saw the first experiment of someone launching a weather ballon with a camera pack and GPS reporting, I knew this would only be a matter of time. "Hey, what if we built a Really Big Ballon and then we went up with it…" (Grokked from Tor.com)
"I’ve had it with this self-righteous, delusional wing of the party." Wow, when Rep. Peter King says that, just how far have you overshot the shark?
"The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is a retinal implant that allows patients to see objects by sending light directly to the optic nerve, effectively avoiding the damaged retina." Yea, but the first patient didn't go for the laser pointer eye socket upgrade. More the pity. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Sen. Inhofe throws a snowball demonstrating that, yes, Virginia, there are snowballs in hell. I mean, that because it snowed there is no climate change. Meanwhile on the other side of the island, "Historic Old Brockway is open as of Saturday, March 15th. This marks the earliest opening for the course in over 30 years." Sounds bad, right? Wait, that was last year. They're already open this year. Maybe in Sen. Inhofe wound up like Bugs Bunny, he could throw all that snow back to Lake Tahoe where the ski resorts are hurting. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
The forgot ichor. The ten most used words of HP Lovecraft.
And the 10 worst misconceptions about medieval life you'd get from fantasy books. That and going to Ren Faires. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Stephen King's everything you need to know about writing successfully in 10 minutes. Interesting to see how his opinions changed from when this was published till when On Writing was published.
Chrissie Hynde famously said of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, "They killed my rock 'n roll and this is its gravestone." When the Wall Street Journal has an article on "slipstream" fiction, does that mean it's dead as well? (Grokked from Tor.com)
I'm sure it's because Kelly Link has a new book and she's being interviewed and name dropped everywhere. (Also grokked from Tor.com)
Cartoon Network is relaunching the Powerpuff Girls. Freaking awesome. I think my squee gland just broke. (Grokked from Tor.com)
(Near) Space tourism by ballon. You know, when I saw the first experiment of someone launching a weather ballon with a camera pack and GPS reporting, I knew this would only be a matter of time. "Hey, what if we built a Really Big Ballon and then we went up with it…" (Grokked from Tor.com)
"I’ve had it with this self-righteous, delusional wing of the party." Wow, when Rep. Peter King says that, just how far have you overshot the shark?
"The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is a retinal implant that allows patients to see objects by sending light directly to the optic nerve, effectively avoiding the damaged retina." Yea, but the first patient didn't go for the laser pointer eye socket upgrade. More the pity. (Grokked from Tor.com)
Sen. Inhofe throws a snowball demonstrating that, yes, Virginia, there are snowballs in hell. I mean, that because it snowed there is no climate change. Meanwhile on the other side of the island, "Historic Old Brockway is open as of Saturday, March 15th. This marks the earliest opening for the course in over 30 years." Sounds bad, right? Wait, that was last year. They're already open this year. Maybe in Sen. Inhofe wound up like Bugs Bunny, he could throw all that snow back to Lake Tahoe where the ski resorts are hurting. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Story Bone
So, today we were going over pelvic pathologies and started down the road of dermoid cysts and started talking about vanishing twin syndrome. So that's when I started thinking, what if it were triplets, where one had absorbed another one, and then the mother gave birth to twins. But the one that had absorbed the vanishing triplet was still hungry for its remaining sibling. Yea, it's a cannibal story. Sometimes kids bite each other, what if there was something more to it. A hunger, a driving, desirous hunger for the other.
Creepy, eh?
But wait, there's more, what if it was all being driven by the original sibling, the one that had been absorbed. That one is the actual cannibal.
Creepy, eh?
But wait, there's more, what if it was all being driven by the original sibling, the one that had been absorbed. That one is the actual cannibal.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Linkee-poo, one day Bilbo was asked to go on a big adventure to the caves below
The updated suggested readings for the new edition of D&D namecheck a number of people I know personally. Wow. Plus some cool insights. But, wait, "Patrick Rothfuss 'showed that bards didn’t have to suck.'" Bards? Suck? WTF? I once created a bard from a level 1 fighter and he was the most kick-ass character I ever played (okay, well, besides the gnome that had to talk his way out of every danger but wielded a wicked pair of knives). He was probably the only true hero class character I played (and that includes stepping into some 25 level characters).
Some people have asked me exactly what it is I have against Microsoft Word. Well, here's a good primer. Die, Microsoft, die. (Grokked from John)
Calligrapher to Middle Earth. (Grokked from Tor.com)
When we die, what the various religions hold true. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The girl whom the crows give gifts. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste. Fred Clark notes that the Devil has been in twice as many movies as Jesus has, and notes how these movies have changed our view of the Adversary, the Destroyer of Kings… Pointed to as part of the WIP. So I have this question, have you ever heard what a fiddle of solid gold sounds like? Nobody plays one to win.
You know when you were young and you wondered if everybody saw the same blue that you did? Well, in general they don't. But just like there are super-smellers out there, there are also tetrachromats. They have an additional color receptor in their eye and so see so many more colors than the rest of us muggles can. Also, there's a difference between seeing colors and being able to see the difference in colors when those colors are right next to each other. (Grokked from John)
What does the ultimate computer code geek want to teach his kids programming? An Apple IIc. I would disagree and say the IIe, but, hey, both are great ideas. Says John Carmack, “Teaching my kids programming on an Apple IIc is like kung fu training in the primitive wilderness.” Fuck yea. (Grokked from John)
The man who would be President "You blamed the seniority system for Sampson’s lay-off when, in good conscience, you should have done some serious soul searching and placed the blame squarely on your systematic defunding of public education to the tune of $2.6 billion that you cut from school districts, state aid to localities, the UW-System and technical colleges." Burn. Scott Walker has a problem with the truth. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
You might wonder at what I call the whackaloon quotient. Jim Wright pretty much shows exactly what I'm talking about in his post, The Boogeyman Is Gonna Get You. "America will fall. Because democracy… Everybody got that? There’ll be a test later. For extra credit, you may write a short essay on why God is okay with democracy and free will when it comes to elections in Israel but not in America – but you will be required to reference the relevant Bible passage and cite the verse where God only loves democracy if you elect conservatives." And that's why I read Jim.
Turns out, someone in the Tea Party gets it. The it here is how solar energy (and renewables) can make us the energy independent country they always talk about (when they shout, "Drill, Baby, Drill"). Now, don't worry, I'm sure the Koches will use their money to defund all those crazy tree-huggers who somehow got into the Tea Party. Also, I have a few qualms about their thought processes, like "You know, monopolies are the government's way of picking winners and losers…" says Debbie Dooley, whom the article is mostly about. No, monopolies are the natural result of "free markets" and "capitalism." It's the government's job to regulate them and try and keep them from forming in the first place.
"Out of 60 incidents of domestic terrorism planned or carried out in the US between 2009 and 2015, a lone wolf was behind 74% of them. 90% were the work of just one or two people." Just what motivates them? Hmm, there's a lot of echoes into the Sovereign Citizen ideology here. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Governor Walker equates being able to take on union protestors to taking on the threat of ISIS? Really? Okay, you heard him, Wisconsin Unions, he's expecting to be firebombed and beheaded. Not that I condone such behavior, but one should always be careful of what one wishes for. Words have power.
Fred Clark on the Good News that is Wal-Mart and now other retailers raising their minimum wage. Also how some people see this as Bad News, even when they stand to benefit.
If only get could have gotten affordable insurance… Instant karma is going to get you. "Former Arizona county sheriff Richard Mack, a fierce opponent of Obamacare and a leader in the "constitutional sheriff" movement, is struggling to pay his medical bills after he and his wife each faced serious illnesses. The former sheriff and his wife do not have health insurance and started a GoFundMe campaign to solicit donations from family and friends to cover the costs of their medical care." Hey, go him. Good luck with that fundraiser. I wonder if he'll insist any insurance company he goes to consider his pre-existing condition?
Some people have asked me exactly what it is I have against Microsoft Word. Well, here's a good primer. Die, Microsoft, die. (Grokked from John)
Calligrapher to Middle Earth. (Grokked from Tor.com)
When we die, what the various religions hold true. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
The girl whom the crows give gifts. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste. Fred Clark notes that the Devil has been in twice as many movies as Jesus has, and notes how these movies have changed our view of the Adversary, the Destroyer of Kings… Pointed to as part of the WIP. So I have this question, have you ever heard what a fiddle of solid gold sounds like? Nobody plays one to win.
You know when you were young and you wondered if everybody saw the same blue that you did? Well, in general they don't. But just like there are super-smellers out there, there are also tetrachromats. They have an additional color receptor in their eye and so see so many more colors than the rest of us muggles can. Also, there's a difference between seeing colors and being able to see the difference in colors when those colors are right next to each other. (Grokked from John)
What does the ultimate computer code geek want to teach his kids programming? An Apple IIc. I would disagree and say the IIe, but, hey, both are great ideas. Says John Carmack, “Teaching my kids programming on an Apple IIc is like kung fu training in the primitive wilderness.” Fuck yea. (Grokked from John)
The man who would be President "You blamed the seniority system for Sampson’s lay-off when, in good conscience, you should have done some serious soul searching and placed the blame squarely on your systematic defunding of public education to the tune of $2.6 billion that you cut from school districts, state aid to localities, the UW-System and technical colleges." Burn. Scott Walker has a problem with the truth. (Grokked from the Slactivist)
You might wonder at what I call the whackaloon quotient. Jim Wright pretty much shows exactly what I'm talking about in his post, The Boogeyman Is Gonna Get You. "America will fall. Because democracy… Everybody got that? There’ll be a test later. For extra credit, you may write a short essay on why God is okay with democracy and free will when it comes to elections in Israel but not in America – but you will be required to reference the relevant Bible passage and cite the verse where God only loves democracy if you elect conservatives." And that's why I read Jim.
Turns out, someone in the Tea Party gets it. The it here is how solar energy (and renewables) can make us the energy independent country they always talk about (when they shout, "Drill, Baby, Drill"). Now, don't worry, I'm sure the Koches will use their money to defund all those crazy tree-huggers who somehow got into the Tea Party. Also, I have a few qualms about their thought processes, like "You know, monopolies are the government's way of picking winners and losers…" says Debbie Dooley, whom the article is mostly about. No, monopolies are the natural result of "free markets" and "capitalism." It's the government's job to regulate them and try and keep them from forming in the first place.
"Out of 60 incidents of domestic terrorism planned or carried out in the US between 2009 and 2015, a lone wolf was behind 74% of them. 90% were the work of just one or two people." Just what motivates them? Hmm, there's a lot of echoes into the Sovereign Citizen ideology here. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
Governor Walker equates being able to take on union protestors to taking on the threat of ISIS? Really? Okay, you heard him, Wisconsin Unions, he's expecting to be firebombed and beheaded. Not that I condone such behavior, but one should always be careful of what one wishes for. Words have power.
Fred Clark on the Good News that is Wal-Mart and now other retailers raising their minimum wage. Also how some people see this as Bad News, even when they stand to benefit.
If only get could have gotten affordable insurance… Instant karma is going to get you. "Former Arizona county sheriff Richard Mack, a fierce opponent of Obamacare and a leader in the "constitutional sheriff" movement, is struggling to pay his medical bills after he and his wife each faced serious illnesses. The former sheriff and his wife do not have health insurance and started a GoFundMe campaign to solicit donations from family and friends to cover the costs of their medical care." Hey, go him. Good luck with that fundraiser. I wonder if he'll insist any insurance company he goes to consider his pre-existing condition?
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
There's no shade in the shadow of the cross
I guess I should do this more often. As you know, Bobs and Gretchens, at the top of the page I often throw some poetry on there. Most often it's from a song that has touched me, or has lyrics that I think are pretty darn good.
Well, I guess sometimes I might be somewhat obscure in my references sometimes. So I should probably do a video post of the music I'm so gratuitously ripping off.
The lyrics currently up top are the last two stanzas of Sufjan Stevens' No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross. I heard this song last week and haven't been able to get it out of my head since then. So, now you can have it in your head.
Well, I guess sometimes I might be somewhat obscure in my references sometimes. So I should probably do a video post of the music I'm so gratuitously ripping off.
The lyrics currently up top are the last two stanzas of Sufjan Stevens' No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross. I heard this song last week and haven't been able to get it out of my head since then. So, now you can have it in your head.
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